Category: Social Media

Today we (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN & the state) have been hit by a storm.

Seriously.

This picture is from my window. The area where the seats and table are located, was clear… yesterday. Now? We’re missing a bench. Oh wait, this was taken around 1pm. It’s almost 7pm as I’m writing this and it’s still snowing.

Some people might find that peculiar since I’m a digital marketer, I blog, and I pretty much live online (so much so that my husband comments about my tweets sometimes).

Despite those things, reading the newspaper is one of the highlights of my week. It’s a time I dedicate to catching up on local and national news. In fact, it’s something that I have been focusing on making time for, which is connected to the ‘Relax Project’ which is a whole other blog post.

While reading the paper over the past year, I realized that it has everything to do with actually consuming the content I’m reading. I can say that because I noticed that when I read the news online, I no longer read.

In college, I majored in electronic and corporate communications and spent most of my time in the campus radio and TV stations. As a result, I love podcasts, technology, and everything digital media. That’s why today’s professional crush is Erin Blaskie.

Last February, I attended her Blog Design Bootcamp 3.0. She not only answered questions, posted additional resources, posted the videos, but also gave us the opportunity to submit any question we had when it came to blogging. It was awesome… I should probably go back and revamp this blog…

Blaskie is the business woman I aspire to be. She’s not only knowledgeable, but extremely easy to talk to. That doesn’t happen very often.

She has an an amazing blogging ethic, is an early adopter of online tools, and is really into customer service. She provides free emails with tips, eBooks, and much more.

When I work with people or organizations on social media, I learn very quickly that (usually) groups don’t need a lecture on the usefulness of social media, but a plan. They need identifiable action steps to start learning and using the tools.

It’s intimidating and scary to think that somewhere out there, people aren’t going to like what you’re sharing, aren’t going to read what you say, or people could even openly challenge what you’re posting.

And to top it all off, everyone can see what others are saying about you and your brand. For better or for worse.

That alone, can be devestating. It’s such a public act that people are nervous as to where to start. To me, that’s the easy part. Starting. To some leaders (see how it can help leaders), it’s a moment where their blood pressure starts to soar.

So, to prevent blood pressure problems, let’s give people wanting to take the plunge a little direction.

How? Action Steps.

(*Disclaimer- I must give credit where credit is due, the titles from this section came from a client. I was giving out homework, and he came up with better ways to describe what I was wanting them to do.— See, we all have something to learn from each other)

Take 15 minutes, five minutes a piece, to increase your activity and understanding of online tools by:

Today, if people want to get to know a client, potential employee, consultant or even a date, we can Google them. From there you might be able to see college activities, their current employer, wedding pictures or blog posts. However, there’s so much that Google isn’t able to find… even with their mad search engine and crazy connections to social networks.

Digg sent out a ‘sneak-peak‘ email last week that goes over some of the new features of the Digg website. Inside the email was a ‘private’ YouTube link talking about the new layout a features.

Now, Digg seems to be following the Twitter/social networking concept.

Soon you’ll be able to follow certain people and organizations and see what they have ‘Dugg’. These Diggs will be under ‘My News’- which consists of all the people and organizations you are choosing to follow.

Digg will also have a section called ‘Top News’ that posts all the top articles that have been posted multiple times by the people/orgs you are ‘following’

Video selling points:

Digg doesn’t have the status update ‘spam’ (yes, I’m an update spammer too at times), and that is another point they are trying to sell the new site on. They are focused on content, not what people are having in their morning coffee.

Imported feeds-that’s right bloggers. This might be a handy feature. You don’t have to add your own posts anymore, they are already ‘Dugg’ through the import feature. Now, this does worry me since some people could just be paid to have bogus accounts with several corporate feeds about their products. Maybe I’m just paranoid.

My viewis that this seems to just be a higher form of Twitter. I can follow someone and see the content they Dugg (retweeted) and I can Digg it myself (re-retweet) and it continues to go through my followers.

Come on, everyone has one- or a dozen. My best friends have them and even my fiancé.

They are the people that you stop tweeting, talking, and blogging for so you can watch their latest update, buy their new book or read over their latest post. You know, the professional crush.

This crush transcends gender, education and understanding. I couldn’t tell you how this started, or when it did. All I can tell you is that it’s like I’m back in 5th grade and I found ‘the boy.’ Yup. My heart beats faster and I hang on every word.

Qualman isn’t just on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. He also has a blog using WordPress. A WP site just seals the deal with me. He knows what he’s talking about- because he lives it.

Perhaps I’ve become cynical with all the ‘experts’ out there that don’t even tweet or Facebook. At. All.

Not sure how that works really. I’m sure that some are awesome, and they don’t like to be connected all the time… but come on! Tweet or talk online somewhere. Show me that you know how to conduct yourself online. Otherwise, why would I trust you with my brand online?

I first ran across Qualman over a year ago, and now I’m happy to follow his developments and statistics on social media in the world today. In fact, his old video, Social Media Revolution (click here), has now been updated with the latest information.

My current reading kick has been on leadership and non-profits. There are many reasons why I think a non-profit is successful, including it’s need in the community, the volunteers, passion, available funds, etc. But ultimately, it can come down to the people running the operation. Thier passion, respect, and drive to see it through can make or break the organization in times of crisis.

Social media and great leadership have much in common. Some people might think that social media is a self serving outlet for those that are misunderstood or (my favorite) can’t get any ‘real friends’. Ouch.

Where it’s cool to hear other voices

Leaders could learn a great deal from social media. Ultimately, everyone wants:

a voice

community

support

and conversation…

However, the people that don’t recognize the community possibilities are the ones that are losing the resilience factor. They see what it can be for their sole purpose, not a big picture. Most leaders in organizations are big picture thinkers and shakers. Tag on a little tweeting and blogging to that and you have comments and conversations that support, oppose and challenge your world. This can result in high accountability and support in a time of need. They put themselves in the light voluntarily, instead of being dragged in later when the going gets tough. By being an active participant, people get to know them.

Why do you think that (good/decent) managers and owners show their faces around factories and boardrooms? They want people to know them, and what they stand for, whatever it may be.

What’s wrong with a little public accountability?

I believe that people say that Gen Y-ers spend too much time online, or don’t have ‘real life’ skills. What if the definition ‘real life’ skills, is changing… or evolving. If I learned anything in school, it’s that 1) history repeats itself and 2) that the only thing for certain is change.

When you’re trying to get business, having a presence online can really make or break you. So, you need to invest in learning how to manage yourself online. Some of the Gen Y-ers can do this, from their phones (I can’t). Others are able to at least acknowledge that it’s a reality, but choose not to participate. That’s different than ignoring or pushing social media away because you think you’re bigger than that. FYI: If you can’t be found online, you might as well not exist.

Are you prepared to communicate online?

Great leaders are constantly listening and learning- what social media has become, a living, breathing, changing thing. We now live in a perpetually ‘beta’ world. Online communities are growing, dying, reviving and thriving. It’s a cycle- it repeats, but change is kept constant.

Who knew?

How are you preparing or growing in the online world to better your company or organization? How can you see leadership evolving with the online world?

This week I took some time to talk with Ben from MapTechWorks. Ben gathers information and interviews to post on YouTube so other non-profits can benefit from specialists and experinced tech workers. It was a blast and check out the finished product below: